I need some support - head gaskets

RoyV101621 · Nov 16, 2000

I used JonB's advice and had my '94 inspected for coolants leaks before the 7/70 ran out. Guess what. No coolants leaks but...

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Oil leaking from the head gasket.

Technician Mike has replaced head gaskets on some Vipers and sent one engine in to Arrows. Winter is just beginning to descend on Chicago and the snake would be hibernating anyway.
Which is the best route to take?
What happens to my SVS throttle bodies if it goes the Arrows?
Do the throttle bodies upset the warranty?
Anyone have good or bad experiance?

Mamba man steve · Nov 18, 2000

In the after market life there is copper head gaskets that work well. they are softer and conform to irregularities. they are much thicker .045 or so I think that Hennessey Motorsports sells them, and maybe able to tell you if you should mill heads so as no to lose compression. I am looking into a source for them also, I find that most items made and sold for the Viper come from the after market manufactures. needless to say no for the V-10.

Mamba man steve · Nov 18, 2000

Sorry I gave the wrong company credit Hennessey may have the head gaskets but it is SVS that has them as a kit with exhast gaskets (copper Exhaust Gaskets realy seal great.)

FRANK · Nov 19, 2000

I suggest going with new head gaskets. The Mopar gasket is a thin piece of junk. Unfortuantely, that is what most dealers use when doing the work. On top of that you have an all aluminum block and heads that are subject to rapid expansion and contraction. Why do you think that most aluminum headed motors regardless of manufacturer had head gasket leaks? The Caddy 4100...The Chrysler 2.2...need I say more? And these aforementioned motors had cast iron blocks. Add to that an aluminum block...even worse

If Chrysler made a thicker head gasket with a steel reinforcing ring, I believe that would have solved many of the problems with leaks.

Also I worked on many muscle Mopar motors of the late 60's and 70's that used steel shim head gaskets. ALL of those motors weeped oil!

This is the nature of the beast...and the Viper is one of those beasts!

RoyV101621 · Nov 29, 2000

After checking around, I've found that the preferred service technique on old Vipers like mine is head gasket change. No one is interested in pulling a motor from a car that is beyond the 3/36. I guess the 7/70 works just not the same way.

FRANK · Nov 29, 2000

Roy,

See what I mean? Realistically, whether or not they ship your motor to Arrow or simply put new head gaskets on, you will again experience troubles within another 20,000 or so miles. If they decide to replace just the head gaskets, I'd look around for an aftermarket set from one of the tuners like Hennessy, etc.

I am sure that the dealer will not want to use them, but I'd sign a waiver to use a different gasket. I'd offer to pay for the gaskets as well. The stock Mopar one is junk...period.

As far as oil leaks...so many cars weep a little oil from the head gasket area. If you block is experiencing weeping, I wouldn't worry about it at this point. But if you see the entire side of your block is very wet and or/small puddles/drips of oil on the floor, then you want to get them changed.

I really feel that Chrysler was doing new Viper owners a BIG favor by pulling the motors and sending them to Arrow. Probably to keep owners happy by giving the impression that Chrysler really cared when someone spent big $$$ for one of their cars. Kinda like a red carpet treatment....but unneccessary in most cases. Now that the cars are getting older and some cars have changed hands a few times...they don't worry as much and do head gasket repairs instead.

Follow me? I wonder how many people with Neons had head gasket troubles and had their motors pulled by the dealer and shipped back to have the gasket problems fixed? HA HA LOL

RoyV101621 · Nov 30, 2000

Thanks to everyone that responded.

I understand DC will care less about me, the original owner of a "******" Viper. The car has only been gone 3 days and I miss it.

I wish that I lived in CA instead of IN. What shall I do when the new head gasket leaks and the car is more than 7 years old. I guess it will have to be decked and plained.

FRANK · Nov 30, 2000

Dan,

You probably won't see one of your Arrow rebuilds come back for a few years. You may never see one depending on if the car gets sold to someone else or the Viper sits in a garage and accumulates 1,000 miles over five more years. What you will see are Vipers that had rebuilds come back with the same problem in about 5-10 years, after some mileage is racked up over time. By that time, you may never see them because people will be bringing them to private garages or Viper tuners...

As far as copper head gaskets...they are not the only option. I know that Doug Levin has a custom pair that he puts on his cars and they are not copper...but are far superior to the Mopar gasket. I have felt and seen these side by side. I was impressd to say the very least!

As far as a liner problem (shifting up) a thicker quality head gasket would better take up the slack of shifting, which is often miniscule.

RoyV101621 · Dec 19, 2000

My car has been placed in temporary storage at my dealership.
It seems that Viper Head Gaskets are on Galactic Backorder.

Any ideas why Dodge would run out of them?

Supercharged Vipermad · Dec 20, 2000

I made a point of asking if Dodge was going to offer a better head gasket (mine gave up after about 9K miles) for our cars at the Tech session in St Louis. They claimed they didn't know there were any problems with the gaskets. I obviously had my most gullible expression on that day. Give me a break.

Obviously they are out of stock because they have so few of these fail that they didn't think they would need them.

RoyV101621 · Jan 24, 2001

Still no ETA head gaskets.
What's Up?
Major engineering change?

KIKNVPR · Jan 24, 2001

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:<HR>Originally posted by RoyV101621:
Still no ETA head gaskets.
What's Up?
Major engineering change?
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Roy,

As of this Friday, I should have some new, extra factory headgaskets for your car. For the last several weeks, been hunting for some, and thanks to a few very special people including JonB and Timberline Dodge, and a famous Viper sales executive from Nebraska, who drives a red viper, the UPS man should be delivering them in a few days. As it turns out, I may have extras, and you can have them for my cost. call me at 312 616 4676 during daytime. I live in Chicago. I also have been told new head gaskets are on order, but could be a long time before they arrive.
seth.

Supercharged Vipermad · Jan 24, 2001

Roy,

Send it to Arrow!

I've put on 34K miles after my Arrow rebuild two years ago and I have had no head gasket leaks yet. I think you'll be happy you had it done later on down the road. You get a basically brand new engine for your car for free!

RoyV101621 · Jan 25, 2001

Seth,
You're a gentleman, scholar and racer. Your offer just blows me away. No one in the USA has these and your offering them to 'little old' me.
Replacing head gaskets may not be a big deal to you but it's beyond my ability. If I'm going to have the work done, and on DC's tab, shouldn't I wait for the newest and best-est head gasket?
Thank you !!!

Who is the source for this part? Felpro?
Isn't this the same gasket that fits the V10 truck? (Vipers are toys - trucks are for work.)

KWIK · Jan 25, 2001

If you have a Gen1 engine still in warranty, definitely have it sent to Arrow. They not only fix head gasket leaking problems, but perform many updates that are beneficial to the longevity of your engine. If you are out of warranty and have head gaskets replaced, special attention should be given to the liner heighth. We currently have two sets of Gen1 head gaskets in our inventory, if you need them give me a call. As information, the new generation of Gen1 head gaskets from Chrysler will be ten thousandths thicker than the old ones, but it's anybody's guess when these will be released. As of today on the Chrysler parts computer there are many sets on back order and no release date.

Ken Klickman
Viper Tech
Timberline Dodge
Your factory connection
(503) 736-5183 7:30 a.m.-5:00 p.m. PST

Steve Ferguson · Jan 26, 2001

Roy, send the Viper over to Roanoke in Illinois. Dave definatly knows how to fix that problem.

RoyV101621 · Jan 31, 2001

Talked to Dennis at Roanoke. If extended service contract, on current GEN1, sent to Arrow, covers expenses then they will look at my car which was purchased 200 miles away. Fingers are crossed.

RoyV101621 · Feb 3, 2001

Thank You, Thank you, Thank you
To all of you that gave your needed support - Head Gaskets 

It seems that the service manager didn't believe that Dodge would crate up an engine for a head gasket leak and never called Team Viper to verify my request.

There will be only 39 days left on the service contract the day the car is dropped off the second time.
I demanded a meeting with MY Zone-Rep and called Customer Care, as advised.
The service manager was calling me back before I was done with Customer Care.

I didn't have an opportunity to 'name drop.' O' well, maybe next time.

Again thanks to:
Frank from Jersey,
Steve from Hull, Ma
Keith Lumma,
Nitrous Dave,
Seth Palatnik,
Steve Ferguson,
Dan Cragin,
KWIK,
JonB-Pace Car Pilot & JonB from Parts Rack

I need some support - head gaskets

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